Something About Umbrellas

Cover me?

When the wife said National Umbrella Day was next week – that is, today – I had only one idea and it was to say something about Mrs. Zimmermann’s umbrella. It apparently looks like “a small black umbrella with rust streaks running down it and a crystal knob for a handle” but given the chance, can become “a tall rod topped by a crystal sphere. Within the sphere a purple star burned.” (The Figure in the Shadows [1975].) Later “the handle had been replaced by a bronze talon gripping a small crystal orb. A bright-magenta spark lurked at the center of the crystal.” (The Ghost in the Mirror [1993].)

The word "umbrella" evolved from the Latin umbella (an umbel is a flat-topped rounded flower) or umbra, meaning shaded or shadow. The Oxford English Dictionary records this as happening in the 17th century, with the first recorded usage in 1610. In Britain, umbrellas were sometimes referred to as "gamps" after the character Mrs. Gamp in the Charles Dickens novel Martin Chuzzlewit as the character was well known for carrying an umbrella, although this usage is now obscure.

Bellairs likely knew of another prominent umbrella in the Catholic church. The umbraculum (Latin) is an historic piece of the papal regalia. Although the popes no longer use it personally, it is displayed on the coat of arms of a sede vacante (the papal arms used between the death of a pope and the election of his successor). This umbraculum is normally made of alternating red and gold fabric, and is usually displayed in a partially unfolded manner. But I don’t know of many others used for magical purposes. What say you?